Along with competitively pricing your home, preparing your home for sale is an important part of getting your home sold for the most amount of money in the shortest amount of time. First impressions are lasting impressions.
THE EXTERIOR OF YOUR HOME:
The exterior of a home often determines how buyers will view the interior.
- Make sure your front entrance is clean and inviting, the lawn is freshly cut, trim landscaping to reveal architectural details of the home, pick the weeds and mulch if necessary. Remove any dead plants or shrubs and add a planter of flowers to the entranceway. Replace worn house numbers and door hardware if needed. Replace outside lighting fixtures/bulbs if necessary. These little details make a BIG difference.
- Paint the front door, shutters, trim, and any other outside features showing signs of excess wear.
- Check the walkway for trip hazards and consider repairing those sections that are badly cracked or need attention.
- Take a tour around the perimeter of the house and remove excess debris and unsightly items. If you have siding consider power washing the exterior if needed. Check windows for broken panes and wash windows where needed.
- Check and clean gutters, replace downspouts that are in need of serious repair.
THE INTERIOR OF YOUR HOME:
How we live in a home and how we sell a home are two different things. Try to see your home through a buyer’s eyes and arrange each room to bring out its best attributes.
- Rearrange or remove all unnecessary furniture from each room to better showcase room size. Remove excessive clutter and decorative objects from the tops of furniture. Clean out closets that are full so buyers get a sense of the storage available.
- Address small maintenance repairs such as cracked caulking, loose knobs, sticking or broken doors, broken light switches. Repair those items that you have been putting off doing, but need to do now that you are putting your home on the market.
- Repaint scarred or dirty walls in a neutral color. Paint old water stained or cracked ceilings.
- Steam clean carpeting or replace if necessary. Consider pulling up carpet to expose wood floors.
- Open blinds and draperies to let the light in during a showing. Turn on all lights before showings when possible.
- Clear all unnecessary objects from the kitchen countertops. If it hasn’t been used for three months… put it away! Clear refrigerator fronts of messages, pictures, etc. Use candles or air fresheners to make the room smell pleasant. Spruce up kitchen cabinets by installing new knobs or hardware. Organize your kitchen cabinets and discard old pantry items to demonstrate how much room you have.
- In the bathroom, remove any unnecessary items from countertops, tubs, shower stalls and commode tops. Keep only your most needed cosmetics, brushes, perfumes, etc., in one small group on the counter. Coordinate towels to one or two colors only. Replace worn shower curtains and clean shower doors.
- Take a tour of the inside of the house room by room. Paint any room where necessary, clean or remove carpet, organize closets, clean windows.
THE END RESULT
By showing attention to detail and understanding the buyer’s need to visualize your house against a neutral backdrop, you can dramatically increase the saleability of your property. We will be happy to assist you with recommendations on what “fixes” will bring the most value and help sell your home for the highest price possible in the shortest amount of time.